The Npower Leagues thread - sponsored by British Gas.

[Plainlayzee]

Hello and Welcome to the Npower Football League's thread.

If you are either playing as, thinking of playing as or have in the past played as any team in the Npower Football Leagues this is the place for you.

As most teams within the Npower League's do not have their own thread, this is the ideal place for you to discuss your currant team, your latest results, potential signings and dreams for the future.

This thread is also open to those who have either taken an Npower League team to the Premier League (i.e the promise land) or a team from the lower leagues into the football league.

Thanks for reading and feel free to join the debate.

[Plainlayzee]

I am currently managing Yeovil Town.

Sitting top of League one (first season) by 18 points in January! The title is all but wrapped up due to other teams inconsistencies and my wonderful ability to win games 1-0 despite only having 1 shot all game. 9 games we have this season 1-0. We might be boring but it is becoming quite effective.

Key players have been Paddy Madden, Dan Burn (loan from Fulham) and Matt Smith (loan from Oldham)

I am also in the 5th round of the FA cup where I will be at home to Derby and also in the JPT area final v Brentford.

Hoping to really push on, get the title wrapped up and go from there.

How's everyone else doing?

[SRL88]

Would also be good to link the Npower team threads available in here too.

[Plainlayzee]

Clearly some teams do already have their own threads, however, they may be slightly inactive due to a lack of people playing as that particular team. Below are a list of threads that may be useful to some of you:

CHAMPIONSHIP

Nottingham Forrest

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/324008-FM13-Nottingham-Forest-Thread-All-aboard-the-Big-Red-Train

Watford

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/323722-FM13-Watford-The-Pozzo-revolution-with-the-help-of-FM13

Peterborough

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/357831-FM13-Peterborough-United-The-masters-of-profiteering

Ipswich

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/320384-FM13-Ipswich-Town-thread-Suffolk-Blues

Blackburn

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/321864-FM13-Blackburn-Rovers-Team-Guide

Cardiff

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/320444-FM-13-Cardiff-City-Thread

Hull City

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/326605-FM13-Hull-City-the-year-of-the-wing-back

Derby County

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/322379-FM13-A-Derby-County-Team-Thread-Restoring-the-Pride

Barnsley

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/321551-FM13-Barnsley-FC-Celebrating-125-Years!

LEAGUE ONE

Crewe

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/336493-FM-13-Crewe-Alexandra-Thread-Man-U-Nick-d-our-star

Portsmouth

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/328372-FM13-Portsmouth-FC-Still-No-Money-Still-No-Players!

[Jogo Bonito]

Good idea Mr. Layzee, even though I am surprised you could be bothered:p

I've had a go with Gillingham, Bournemouth and Crewe so far on FM13, plus Pompey in FMC mode. I am currently at Hayes & Yeading but have a few more Npower (RIP) clubs I will try out in the next few weeks.

It's good to hear Madden is doing the business for you as if I would be looking at him if I ever start in the 2nd tier, or if I can afford him by way of promotion. Good luck and hopefully a few others will share their updates in here.

[Plainlayzee]

Haha I really should of used a different user names shouldn't I .

I am sure this thread could be used by those who are playing within the npower leagues. There seems to a lot of forums/threads for the LLM and for the premier league manages, but none for us folk who wander round the middles leagues having a good old journeyman career.

I do however think it would only be fair to let people who have started as Npower League clubs, even if they have been promoted to the premier league, to continue to actively post within this. After all, they must be doing something most of us aren't since they are going up the leagues

[Jogo Bonito]

I'm sure plenty started in, or are in, the Npower leagues, yeah.

IIRC there may be a few more club guides to link in - Rotherham & Portsmouth have been created and there may be some others.

[Plainlayzee]

I'm sure plenty started in, or are in, the Npower leagues, yeah.

IIRC there may be a few more club guides to link in - Rotherham & Portsmouth have been created and there may be some others.

Will have a look and post the links mate.

Thanks again,

[Plainlayzee]

I have just reached the JPT final after beating Brentford 3-1 on agg over 2 legs.

I went out the cup though against Derby. To be fair they hammered us but only managed a 1-0 win.

In the league we are miles clear at the top, I think we are about 19 points clear with only 11 games remaining. After wins against Coventry and Brentford (2nd and 3rd respectfully) we are all but home now. I can't see me losing all 11 games and Coventry and Brentford winning them so I am pretty certain we will go up, it just depends on if we are Champions or not.

My biggest worry is that the team is too inconsistent, the midfield is lacking flair and Derby, a lower end Championship team, frankly hammered us. Lots of summer signings needed I think.

[Gunner 101]

I am currently playing as Colchester United. First season we was promoted from League One after finishing second behind Tranmere Rovers. We also won the JPT against Preston North End and managed to knock out higher ranked teams in Burnley and Arsenal in the League Cup before losing on penalties to Newcastle in the fourth round. The FA Cup was disappointing, losing to non-league Lincoln in the first round.

Second season, and first in the Championship. I decided to keep pretty much the same team as what I went up with, making just the five signings. We ended up in 20th after being mid table for the first half of the season. We also knocked out West Ham of the League Cup before losing to Liverpool in the third round. The FA Cup we exited at the third round too, losing to Manchester City.

I have just started my third season, again the aim is to avoid relegation, and again the media reckon we will come rock bottom. Opened the season with a 2-0 home win over Wigan, who are now in the Championship for the season season after failing to gain promotion back to the top flight. We then played Barnet in the League Cup and won 4-2. Third game we lost 2-0 away to Forest.

And that's where I'm at currently. Players I would recommend to try and sign from Colchester; Tom Eastman (21) & Magnus Okuonghae (26). These two, especially Eastman are rocks in League One and the Championship, although the opportunity to sign Thomas Rogne on a free transfer in the second season see Okuonghae drop to third choice. Eastman could also do a decent job in the Premiership.

Players I have signed in my time as manager as Colchester United are as follows;

Juan Jose Gomez (£150k) - Second season - Ecuador international at 32 years old. 80+ caps for country and my number one. As a release clause in at £150k.

Alex Cisak (Loan, no wages) - Third season - Needed a back up keeper after letting go of Mark Cousins, and couldn't afford wages.

Curtis Obeng (£140k) - Second season - Very fast right back from Swansea. Still young at 24 years old.

Thomas Rogne (Free) - Second season - Strong, tall centreback. Was released by Celtic so snapped him up for nothing. Only 23 and now valued at £2million.

Ben Gordon (Free) - Third season - Similar to Obeng, this time a left back. Was released by Barnsley and I snapped him. Doesn't expect much wages wise either.

Julian Bennett (Loan then signed for £50k) - First/second season - Loaned from Wednesday first season with a buy clause for £50k (was valued at £120k) played well in League One so snapped him up. Now second choice behind Gordon.

Amine Linganzi (Free) - First season - Brought in as back up/to replace the ageing David Wright as my DM. Congo international who's tall and strong. Still young at 23.

Fred Benson (Free) - Third season - 30 year old winger who was a free agent after leaving Holland. Didn't expect much wages and scored on his debut.

Lars Gulpen (£875k) - Third season - The clubs record signing. 23 year old Dutch attacking midfielder. As potential to grow into a Premiership player and after two years of loanees in the AM position (Firstly Billy Clifford, then Chuks Aneke) I wanted a permanent signing. Scored a beauty on his debut against Barnet from 25 yards, promising.

Scott Vernon - (£300k) - Third season - Needed more goals and so Vernon was brought in from Aberdeen. With 16 for finishing and with me often playing 1 up front, he was the perfect fit. Scored 2 in 3 and has previously played for the club in years gone by.

Lauri Dalle Valle (Loan then signed for free) - First/second season - Lauri is a young Finnish striker from Fulham. Loaned him first season and he hit 14 goals in League One. Snapped him up for nothing and despite playing second fiddle to Jabo Ibehre, scored 7 goals in less than 10 starts. A full Finland international, as potential to grow at 22.

I this helps people, obviously Colchester don't have much money and a lot of teams could do far better than the players I've been able to sign, but I feel we're progressing well and not changing too much each season helps massively.

[Jamo456]

Started a save with Tranmere, picked up 8 points from the first four games of the season, which sees us sitting in fourth place in League 1. Only scored 4 goals in those games though, so goal scoring is an issue but my defence is very, very good so I've only conceded once.

Haven't made any signings as I didn't really have the funds and I already have too many loan players for my liking, so much so that half of my team will need replacing next year, which will be a big problem, particularly if we don't get promoted.

Aiming to build a team around James Wallace, Ash Taylor, Max Power and Cole Stockton, all of whom have the potential to play in the Premiership and have been fantastic so far.

[Plainlayzee]

I have just started my season in the Championship.

Signing were as follows:

Jonathan Obika - signed on a free after his contract expired. Having had many spells at Yeovil previously, including a loan spell last season during which he scored goals for fun, I felt he could offer us something this season

Mark O'Hara - A young 18 year old CB from Kilmarnock - again signed on a free and on quite cheap wages. Will be good cover and has the potential to be a very good player over the next few years.

Tommy Spurr - Free signing after his contract with Doncaster expired. He has played at this level before so has great experience despite only being 25. Also he has a bullet of a long throw which may be useful.

Iain Hume - Free signing after his contract at Preston expired. He initially wanted in excess of 7k p/w but I managed to negotiate him down to 4.5k p/w. He is by far my highest earner however I feel he has something to offer at this level. He is only on a 1 year contract so if things don't work out he can leave next summer. He did score 15 league goals in League One last season and offers some different options up front.

Sean McGinty - Free from Man UTD - After having him on loan for 5 months of last season I was desperate to bring him back. He is only young but has great potential and was also only asking for low wages. An absolute steal of a signing IMO.

Curtis Obeng - Loan from Swansea. I have seen so many people mention him I thought I should check this guy out. He is fast and athletic and can certainly give me a bit of quality down the right hand side. With him being signed this means I can move Luke Ayling into the CB role where I feel he is better suited.

Ibrahim Abdi - loan from Man City - adds some quality youth to the side together with a bit of creativity. I was lacking width and feel he could be the answer.

Chuks Aneke - so much written about this guy on these forums I thought he would be worth a shot. Arsenal are paying all his wages so he is effectively a free player for a year. Again he adds some creativity to the side.

Joe McGovern - After letter Gareth Stewart leave on a free I needed a back-up GK. I tried many options, both signings and loans and couldn't find anyone until this guy popped up. He was without a club and only 19 but he has just been called up to the Northern Ireland U21 side. His stats are a bit hit and miss, but he has potential and will get a chance in some cup games. Plus with wages of only £250 p/w this can't really go wrong.

Overall I am quite happy with my signings. I did miss out on one or two which was disappointing. Firstly Mark Bunn who was the rock at the heart of my defence last season was loaned out to Stevenage by Fulham. I felt he could offer something in the Championship but he signed for them within about half an hour so I didn't get chance to enter into the proceedings and put an offer in. Also Alan Judge from Notts County - he was a key target that I was willing to make my top earner, however, for whatever reason my chairman only let me offer him £2000 p/w and he wanted 4.5k. All of the summer I was able to offer 6k so I am not too sure why this came down so much. Anyway, we couldn't agree a deal and he eventually went to Sheffield United on 7k p/w.

Pre Season was a disaster - losing 5 out of 6 games, most of which were to lower league opposition. However, I was confident that this was down to a lack of fitness and a number of new players finding there place within the squad.

First game of the season was a very tricky game away to Nottingham Forrest which we managed to win 1-0 thanks to a Obika goal. How we won I don't know, they managed to have 30 shots, 21 on target compared to my 3 shots and 1 on target. A very good win nevertheless that gets us up and running for the rest of the season.

Financially we are making quite a bit of money too, I am currently 16k under my wage budget and didn't spend a penny all summer, so hopefully we can maintain a healthy position in the league until January and then look to bring 1 or 2 more quality additions into the squad.

[Plainlayzee]

Started a save with Tranmere, picked up 8 points from the first four games of the season, which sees us sitting in fourth place in League 1. Only scored 4 goals in those games though, so goal scoring is an issue but my defence is very, very good so I've only conceded once.

Haven't made any signings as I didn't really have the funds and I already have too many loan players for my liking, so much so that half of my team will need replacing next year, which will be a big problem, particularly if we don't get promoted.

Aiming to build a team around James Wallace, Ash Taylor, Max Power and Cole Stockton, all of whom have the potential to play in the Premiership and have been fantastic so far.

I have played as Tranmere previously. Wallace, Taylor etc are all very good player and can play at a higher level however just make sure you have their contracts sorted out. They are pretty difficult to negotiate with, especially Wallace who wanted 7k p/w on my old save. Also don't under estimate Danny Holmes and Akpra Apro who are both quality players even in the Championship.

[Plainlayzee]

Played a few more games last night.

I unfortunately lost 2-1 away to Wycombe in the league cup which was a bit disappointing, especially as a good cup run would of generated some extra income. However we have now won 2 out of 2 in the league after beating Bristol City 2-1 at home.

All in all I am pretty pleased. Just feel like we need 1 or 2 more signings with a bit of quality though as outside the first 11 we are struggling.

[Gunner 101]

So I'm now into March in my third season. Currently sat in 13th place with that 'magical' 50 points after 36 games. My aim this season was to just improve upon last and we have achieved that already, so these last 10 games are just going to be chance to kick on and finish as high as possible. It is a little disappointing that we flirted with the play-off's until December before dropping off the pace. League Cup we got knocked out in the Third Round against Chelsea after disposing of lower league opposition in Barnet and Pompey. The FA Cup however we still find ourselves in and we're now at the Sixth Round stage, where we face Everton. We beat Premiership Hull City in the Third Round, before Nottingham Forest were sent packing. Then, we faced Manchester City who knocked us out the cup last season, this year? 1-0 to us with them rarely threatening at all, we're starting to earn ourselves a giant killers tag.

I've made four more signings since my last post which I made when I was in August, these are;

Frazer Richardson - Free - The 31 year old full back rotates with Curtis Obeng, who unfortunately just broke a leg and so Frazer now holds that spot. Richardson is a solid full back, and despite being the wrong side of 30, he offers a good deal to a lower Championship side like mine.

Didac - £550k - Signed to provide competition for Lars Gulpen in the attacking midfield role. 24 year old Spaniard, unfortunately he signed, played well on his debut and then broke his arm so he's only played once so far.

Hugo Fernandez - Loan - Young Spanish defensive midfielder on loan from Blackburn. Brought in whilst Linganzi was away at the African Nations, he's played well. Tough in the tackle and can pass the ball.

Prejuce Nakoulma - £6k p/m loan - Signed on loan for a small monthly fee from Le Havre. Had a terrible debut but since then has played well. Offers a fair amount of pace and dribbling ability. Needed another left winger due to Benson being injured and selling Jack Compton on.

[Plainlayzee]

So I'm now into March in my third season. Currently sat in 13th place with that 'magical' 50 points after 36 games. My aim this season was to just improve upon last and we have achieved that already, so these last 10 games are just going to be chance to kick on and finish as high as possible. It is a little disappointing that we flirted with the play-off's until December before dropping off the pace. League Cup we got knocked out in the Third Round against Chelsea after disposing of lower league opposition in Barnet and Pompey. The FA Cup however we still find ourselves in and we're now at the Sixth Round stage, where we face Everton. We beat Premiership Hull City in the Third Round, before Nottingham Forest were sent packing. Then, we faced Manchester City who knocked us out the cup last season, this year? 1-0 to us with them rarely threatening at all, we're starting to earn ourselves a giant killers tag.

I've made four more signings since my last post which I made when I was in August, these are;

Frazer Richardson - Free - The 31 year old full back rotates with Curtis Obeng, who unfortunately just broke a leg and so Frazer now holds that spot. Richardson is a solid full back, and despite being the wrong side of 30, he offers a good deal to a lower Championship side like mine.

Didac - £550k - Signed to provide competition for Lars Gulpen in the attacking midfield role. 24 year old Spaniard, unfortunately he signed, played well on his debut and then broke his arm so he's only played once so far.

Hugo Fernandez - Loan - Young Spanish defensive midfielder on loan from Blackburn. Brought in whilst Linganzi was away at the African Nations, he's played well. Tough in the tackle and can pass the ball.

Prejuce Nakoulma - £6k p/m loan - Signed on loan for a small monthly fee from Le Havre. Had a terrible debut but since then has played well. Offers a fair amount of pace and dribbling ability. Needed another left winger due to Benson being injured and selling Jack Compton on.

You seem to be doing very well their mate, nice result against Man City as well.

Frazer Richardson is someone who I have taken an interest in however I simply cannot afford his wages at the moment. I think his contract is due to expire at the end of 2014 though so I may make another move then.

How are your finances at the moment?

I seemed to have very little to spend however the other promoted teams, Tranmere and Brentford, have both blown nearly 1 million on new players!

[Gunner 101]

You seem to be doing very well their mate, nice result against Man City as well.

Frazer Richardson is someone who I have taken an interest in however I simply cannot afford his wages at the moment. I think his contract is due to expire at the end of 2014 though so I may make another move then.

How are your finances at the moment?

I seemed to have very little to spend however the other promoted teams, Tranmere and Brentford, have both blown nearly 1 million on new players!

Frazer Richardson went to Cardiff on mine and then they released him so I got him on a free transfer. Pay him £2,800 a week currently.

Finances are 'Okay' although Ive had a decent cup run with at least one or two 'top four' sides coming to The Weston Homes Community Stadium each year so that might have helped. Transfer wise, I spent nothing in the first season. Second season I spent £300k and this season Ive spent £1.7 million! Although because my job status is 'Untouchable' Ive asked for funds a couple of times and they seem to trust my judgement in the transfer market and often release extra funds. Like January this season they have me another £875k to spend which enabled me to bring in Didac.

[Plainlayzee]

I get the feeling my chairman doesn't really agree with spending money, he seems to do everything possible to avoid spending it on the player squad, however he decided to sanction of stadium improvement worth 500k (something to do with installing seats in all stands of the grounds). That 500k could of been much better spent IMO but there you go.

Maybe next year I will get some to spend although to be honest I have looked at the quality of players who are t/listed or who's contracts are due to expire next summer and there is some real quality there.

[Gunner 101]

Whereas my board refused to relay the pitch despite it being in a shocking condition..

[Jogo Bonito]

It's good to hear of you guys at clubs like Yeovil, Colchester and Tranmere. Actually, Rovers are a club that I will definitely get to manage myself soon because they always do well when I manage other L1 clubs, and they have incredibly strong player ratings in this version. It seems to be a very solid base to work from.

Unfortunately I suffered an xml parsing error (?) on my enjoyable Hayes & Yeading save, and I can no longer access it. I was towards the end of season 2 and we sat 9th in BSP after promotion via the play-offs. We had a very competent squad assembled on proper contracts (took ages to convert them all from non contract basis), and the club was turning professional at the end of season 2 also, so it was a great long-term project.

Anyway, the reason for being here? I've started up at...Coventry City. No transfer budget and a media expectation of 2nd, even though mid-table would be a challenge in my opinion. Why them? Well, I never tried them before and until FM2014 they have a decent arena, a healthy fan base and reputation, and a plethora of young homegrown talents.

I'm in November 2012 and have not been able to sell any of the squad. I transfer-listed and offered out 15 players when I took over (50% of transfer income is available for any cash I bring in) but I have received no bids.

I've made a few loan signings, but to be honest that was done in the belief that I would be off-loading other players. I didn't want the squad to be too small, but now it's actually reducing the opportunities for some of the youngsters. As some are short-term loans, this will improve by the first winter window, and I may terminate some others in order to give our own youngsters the opportunity.

We already had Bailey & Ball on loan from Derby, but I sent Ball back to them. I started off with a traditional 451, rigid and counter-attacking with pace. Away form is good but I was struggling to score goals at home so I have now switched to 4141, with the same focus.

On the player front, Leon Clarke is the main man in attack and has just about hit double figures. Shaun Cummings has been impressive at RB on a season loan from Reading (because Christie was injured at the start), and Aaron Martin (Southampton) has been a solid CB during his 3-month stay. Andy Drury (Ipswich) has added some impressive quality to my midfield but his loan expires soon.

The biggest surprises so far, for differing reasons are (a) Conor Thomas: 7 goals (6 in the league) after breaking in to the side as a supporting central midfielder (b) Callum McManaman (Wigan) who has contributed nothing at all during his loan. He struggles to make the bench now and I'm likely to return him to the Latics six months early if that hasn't changed by January.

We're competitive near the top of the table, and I will update as things progress.

[Plainlayzee]

It's good to hear of you guys at clubs like Yeovil, Colchester and Tranmere. Actually, Rovers are a club that I will definitely get to manage myself soon because they always do well when I manage other L1 clubs, and they have incredibly strong player ratings in this version. It seems to be a very solid base to work from.

Unfortunately I suffered an xml parsing error (?) on my enjoyable Hayes & Yeading save, and I can no longer access it. I was towards the end of season 2 and we sat 9th in BSP after promotion via the play-offs. We had a very competent squad assembled on proper contracts (took ages to convert them all from non contract basis), and the club was turning professional at the end of season 2 also, so it was a great long-term project.

Anyway, the reason for being here? I've started up at...Coventry City. No transfer budget and a media expectation of 2nd, even though mid-table would be a challenge in my opinion. Why them? Well, I never tried them before and until FM2014 they have a decent arena, a healthy fan base and reputation, and a plethora of young homegrown talents.

I'm in November 2012 and have not been able to sell any of the squad. I transfer-listed and offered out 15 players when I took over (50% of transfer income is available for any cash I bring in) but I have received no bids.

I've made a few loan signings, but to be honest that was done in the belief that I would be off-loading other players. I didn't want the squad to be too small, but now it's actually reducing the opportunities for some of the youngsters. As some are short-term loans, this will improve by the first winter window, and I may terminate some others in order to give our own youngsters the opportunity.

We already had Bailey & Ball on loan from Derby, but I sent Ball back to them. I started off with a traditional 451, rigid and counter-attacking with pace. Away form is good but I was struggling to score goals at home so I have now switched to 4141, with the same focus.

On the player front, Leon Clarke is the main man in attack and has just about hit double figures. Shaun Cummings has been impressive at RB on a season loan from Reading (because Christie was injured at the start), and Aaron Martin (Southampton) has been a solid CB during his 3-month stay. Andy Drury (Ipswich) has added some impressive quality to my midfield but his loan expires soon.

The biggest surprises so far, for differing reasons are (a) Conor Thomas: 7 goals (6 in the league) after breaking in to the side as a supporting central midfielder (b) Callum McManaman (Wigan) who has contributed nothing at all during his loan. He struggles to make the bench now and I'm likely to return him to the Latics six months early if that hasn't changed by January.

We're competitive near the top of the table, and I will update as things progress.

Good to see someone else playing in the 'lower' leagues.

I found the Mcmanaman is nowhere near as good on the game as he is IRL. I actually checked him out recent with a view to loaning him in the Championship second season. He had been on loan at Preston (if I remember rightly) and been frankly appalling. He had an average rating of just above 6.5 so I didn't bother. He will no doubt be vastly improved in FM 2014.

How are Coventry's finances on the game? I assume they aren't quite as bad as real life?

If you want some cheap t/fer targets then have a look at Jonathan Obika on loan from Tottenham (they will normally pay his wages) and Sean McGuinty from Man UTD - same as Obika with wages. Both are extremely reliable and Obika scores goals for fun which should get you out the division.

[Jogo Bonito]

Agreed on McManaman. Of course next year he will be upgraded and therefore unavailable for this type of team. The finances are reasonable in this version (again, next season they will be a much tougher challenge - probably not far off the Pompey of 2013, I guess).

I had scoured Central Europe and a few others myself and had some really good (L1 level) talents lined up on loan. The clubs agreed non-contributory deals as my board were not willing to fund any fees or wages, but the players declined even though they were listed for loan and stuck in their reserve sides. A couple that did agree were refused work permits as their nations were not yet in EU. I also had a pre-contract deal agreed for American defender/midfielder Stephen McCarthy (New England), but his work permit has been refused three times on appeal so far. I tend to just go back for the same players and hopefully will get one or two of these in eventually.

Thanks for your transfer suggestions. I thinked I looked at Obika but couldn't get him for some reason and he is no better than what we have (except is free). I've moved my focus on now anyway, as I'm quite happy to give my own youngsters a crack. If I can create some funds from sales I will go in for a couple of the better non-league players I have on my radar. Other than that, I will only supplement the squad if I can bring in some quality younger talents from 'better' teams in obsure places. The ASPIRE Academy projects are always worth keeping an eye on, although I am mainly looking in 'lesser' Europe for players more suitable at this club.

I'm not too concerned if we don't achieve promotion in the first season as I know we will have a zero transfer budget even if we get up. Of course, if we don't get up, I have to hope the board won't sack me.

The other thing I forgot to mention was my staff. Coventry probably have the smallest number in the league at the start (which I like as I only had to terminate Gregor Rioch and Dave Hart). I paid compensation to bring back club favourite Trever Peake (Leicester) as my Assistant Manager, and also paid for Michael Johnson (Birmingham) to become our Defensive coach.

Staff joining for free were Andy Cole (Attacking coach), Noureddine Naybet (U18 coach), Chris Malkin (Physio), Alan McLeary (Chief Scout) and Martyn Pert (Fitness coach). We retained the services of Steve Ogrizovic and Lee Carsley, whilst I promoted Ian Foster to U18 manager. I do most of the scouting myself as I have a pretty decent knowledge across this level of football, whilst Naybet has done well for me in that role at other clubs and brings the added bonus of opening doors to promising talent from Morocco.

I now have just 10 staff to assist me, but it's a small and high-quality group, which I am happy with for now. Interestingly, Tim Fisher (the loathed Chairman) is the only other member of staff - we have no Directors or other personnel.

[Plainlayzee]

Agreed on McManaman. Of course next year he will be upgraded and therefore unavailable for this type of team. The finances are reasonable in this version (again, next season they will be a much tougher challenge - probably not far off the Pompey of 2013, I guess).

I had scoured Central Europe and a few others myself and had some really good (L1 level) talents lined up on loan. The clubs agreed non-contributory deals as my board were not willing to fund any fees or wages, but the players declined even though they were listed for loan and stuck in their reserve sides. A couple that did agree were refused work permits as their nations were not yet in EU. I also had a pre-contract deal agreed for American defender/midfielder Stephen McCarthy (New England), but his work permit has been refused three times on appeal so far. I tend to just go back for the same players and hopefully will get one or two of these in eventually.

Thanks for your transfer suggestions. I thinked I looked at Obika but couldn't get him for some reason and he is no better than what we have (except is free). I've moved my focus on now anyway, as I'm quite happy to give my own youngsters a crack. If I can create some funds from sales I will go in for a couple of the better non-league players I have on my radar. Other than that, I will only supplement the squad if I can bring in some quality younger talents from 'better' teams in obsure places. The ASPIRE Academy projects are always worth keeping an eye on, although I am mainly looking in 'lesser' Europe for players more suitable at this club.

I'm not too concerned if we don't achieve promotion in the first season as I know we will have a zero transfer budget even if we get up. Of course, if we don't get up, I have to hope the board won't sack me.

The other thing I forgot to mention was my staff. Coventry probably have the smallest number in the league at the start (which I like as I only had to terminate Gregor Rioch and Dave Hart). I paid compensation to bring back club favourite Trever Peake (Leicester) as my Assistant Manager, and also paid for Michael Johnson (Birmingham) to become our Defensive coach.

Staff joining for free were Andy Cole (Attacking coach), Noureddine Naybet (U18 coach), Chris Malkin (Physio), Alan McLeary (Chief Scout) and Martyn Pert (Fitness coach). We retained the services of Steve Ogrizovic and Lee Carsley, whilst I promoted Ian Foster to U18 manager. I do most of the scouting myself as I have a pretty decent knowledge across this level of football, whilst Naybet has done well for me in that role at other clubs and brings the added bonus of opening doors to promising talent from Morocco.

I now have just 10 staff to assist me, but it's a small and high-quality group, which I am happy with for now. Interestingly, Tim Fisher (the loathed Chairman) is the only other member of staff - we have no Directors or other personnel.

What on earth is the ASPIRE academy projects? Never heard of them.....

Also which lower league players have you ear marked as potentially good enough for league one? I have/am considering a few players from League One and Two for the championship but I very rarely go down as far as the non leagues.

I like yourself have brought in Martyn Pert as a fitness coach. I also have Les Parry as my physio (ex Tranmere physio/manager), Dave Shannon (ex Liverpool youth coach) Hughie McCauley (same as Shannon) and also Ian Bennett the ex Huddersfield Town (amongst others) goalkeeper. His stats are absolutely unbelievably good.

My board have only just opened up the scouting to be 'Europe' rather than just England so I am hoping we can find a few nice gems that I can snap up. I do need to add some continental flair to my team as at the moment I simply have a lot of hard working English/British players who can't spot a decent pass to save their lives.

I sacked my Director of football and decided not to replace him as they are usual a waste of wages. Therefore I am the same as you, it's me, my Chairman and about 7 staff.

I had a look at Coventry on my save this morning and they complete blew their promotion chances. They started slowly meaning they were 14th after 10 games. They then went on an incredible run and got up to be 2nd in the league, 13 points clear of Tranmere who were 3rd. They then blew the 13 point lead and finished 3rd (losing out on the last day of the season) before losing in the play offs to Doncaster 4-0! How Roy Keane kept his job I don't know.

[Jogo Bonito]

ASPIRE Academy would only be worthwhile if you have Africa & Middle East loaded up. They have facilities in Qatar and Senegal, one of them has actual links to Belgian club Eupen, which I discovered was replicated in-game when I was managing Westerlo in the second tier over there.

I first learned of ASPIRE through an ex-pro who now works in the Middle East region. He did analysis during the Al-Kass International Cup which they hosted in Qatar earlier this year, a youth comp featuring some of the best club sides around the world. You won't get access to those players via these Academies, but I did spot some talented youngsters (mainly African) when I had the right nations loaded up. I know there is an ASPIRE in UK too, but not sure if this is linked - I don't think it is. The UK one has produced a handful of players that are at pro clubs now, but nothing too exciting.

I usually sign Parry as a physio too, but Malkin is another good (similar) option. McAuley has good ratings, I can see why you went for him. Shannon I just looked at but he isn't interested, and I'm happy with my coaches now. Bennett is still playing in 2012 so will remember him for the future and see if it's random or not. Tim Flowers is one I tried to get, but couldn't afford. I agree with you, small clubs like ours don't really need any more staff to function properly. The wages are best saved, and responsibility is safer in our own hands.

Hopefully with increased scouting range you can find some good ability, I am sure you will. And hopefully my Coventry will manage to keep up their good form and surpass the City in your game, that was a shocking collapse. The leaders in my game are currently Scunthorpe (amazingly) whilst Tranmere are struggling in the bottom third, that doesn't normally happen under AI management.

As for players, I am not sure what season you're in. Not many non-league players will perform at your level. I know a couple who might, but may not be better than what you have already. In the past I had a few trusted overseas players that could do a job up there, of course that depends on their status in your game year. Is Madden still performing well, and what is the rest of your squad?

[Gunner 101]

Just completed my third season in charge of Colchester. We made it to the Quarter Final of the FA Cup before losing to Everton in a replay. We also ended up in 14th in the league, despite media predictions of bottom, again. So another season of improvement which is nice to see.

2012/2013 - 2nd League One

2013/2014 - 20th Championship

2014/2015 - 14th Championship.

[Jogo Bonito]

That's good progress there Gunner. Is Eastman still performing well? He always gets high ratings for AI in my games at this level.

Who are your best players now and what sort of budget will you get in season 4?

[Gunner 101]

That's good progress there Gunner. Is Eastman still performing well? He always gets high ratings for AI in my games at this level.

Who are your best players now and what sort of budget will you get in season 4?

Eastman is brilliant. Performs well all season, think his average was around 7.37 this season. He's now valued at £4.1 million, luckily had no interest from other teams upto now. He's under contract till 2017 at £7k per week. Also, with Thomas Rogne beside him they play very well together.

I would say that Eastman and Rogne are my two star players. Although, I have two young central midfielders in Gilbey and Mulcaire (Regen) that are progressing well. Other than that, I have a team that does the job, we are pretty physical so I guess that's helping grinding out the wins.

I will let you know the budget once I find out myself, have logged off for today and so won't probably play again till Thursday or Friday evening.

[Jogo Bonito]

Excellent, thanks. A strong team can perform well even without real star quality. Keep up the good work!

[Plainlayzee]

ASPIRE Academy would only be worthwhile if you have Africa & Middle East loaded up. They have facilities in Qatar and Senegal, one of them has actual links to Belgian club Eupen, which I discovered was replicated in-game when I was managing Westerlo in the second tier over there.

I first learned of ASPIRE through an ex-pro who now works in the Middle East region. He did analysis during the Al-Kass International Cup which they hosted in Qatar earlier this year, a youth comp featuring some of the best club sides around the world. You won't get access to those players via these Academies, but I did spot some talented youngsters (mainly African) when I had the right nations loaded up. I know there is an ASPIRE in UK too, but not sure if this is linked - I don't think it is. The UK one has produced a handful of players that are at pro clubs now, but nothing too exciting.

I usually sign Parry as a physio too, but Malkin is another good (similar) option. McAuley has good ratings, I can see why you went for him. Shannon I just looked at but he isn't interested, and I'm happy with my coaches now. Bennett is still playing in 2012 so will remember him for the future and see if it's random or not. Tim Flowers is one I tried to get, but couldn't afford. I agree with you, small clubs like ours don't really need any more staff to function properly. The wages are best saved, and responsibility is safer in our own hands.

Hopefully with increased scouting range you can find some good ability, I am sure you will. And hopefully my Coventry will manage to keep up their good form and surpass the City in your game, that was a shocking collapse. The leaders in my game are currently Scunthorpe (amazingly) whilst Tranmere are struggling in the bottom third, that doesn't normally happen under AI management.

As for players, I am not sure what season you're in. Not many non-league players will perform at your level. I know a couple who might, but may not be better than what you have already. In the past I had a few trusted overseas players that could do a job up there, of course that depends on their status in your game year. Is Madden still performing well, and what is the rest of your squad?

Very interesting about the ASPIRE project. I might have to have a look into this today and see if I can find some more information about it.

I am shocked at Tranmere being in the bottom third of the table in your game, they are usually right up at the top of the league, if not one of the teams that normally get promoted.

Madden has been very good so far. Him along side Obika for whatever reason just seems to work. I don't know why, neither of them have got particularly great stats and I haven't done anything clever with the tactics, they just seem to work very well together. Obika has scored 4 goals in 5 games and Madden has 3 goals in 4 games so far this season.

My latest results are a 2-1 win at Derby, the was the first game this season that we have really dominated and deserved to win. We then got beat 2-1 at Sunderland and to be fair we were completely outclassed by their team of Premier League players.

Overall I am quite happy, 3 wins from 4 in the league isn't bad at all for a newly promoted club, however, I am concerned by the fact that we are yet to have over 45% possession in any game this season and Marek Stech is getting MOTM in every game due to the amount of saves he is having to make. Whilst I appreciate the points, we cannot go the whole season getting hammered and someone nicking wins. The next games are Huddersfield and Watford both at home so I will be looking for 4 points from these games. There are only 2 days of the transfer window left but hopefully I can get 2 or 3 new faces in, especially since we are working off a squad of 18 players at the moment.

I am only in the second season by the way, 2013/2014 season at the moment if that helps in terms of any player suggestions you may have.

[Plainlayzee]

Just completed my third season in charge of Colchester. We made it to the Quarter Final of the FA Cup before losing to Everton in a replay. We also ended up in 14th in the league, despite media predictions of bottom, again. So another season of improvement which is nice to see.

2012/2013 - 2nd League One

2013/2014 - 20th Championship

2014/2015 - 14th Championship.

What do you think your chances of going up next year are? Could you push for the play offs? Who are you going to sign?

[Jogo Bonito]

I guess you could say the ASPIRE project is similar to the GHA or RTD project. It may not help you at Yeovil, but is worth keeping an eye on in the future, particularly if work permits are not an issue.

I've progressed to January 2013 at Coventry, and just beat Wigan in the 3rd round of the FA Cup (but next round is away at Swansea). I don't make any effort in Cups but every penny matters here. In the league we are 3rd, but the top 10 is quite bunched. I see Tranmere have recovered slightly and could make a late burst for the play offs.

I terminated the loan of McManaman and Andy Drury went back to Ipswich after a successful 3-month loan. Unfortunately he was swiftly sold on to Wolves. I did cash in some sale clauses for Bigirimana and Jutkiewicz, which was useful, and I also sold fans favourite McSheffrey. He wasn't a key player, his contract was going to be up, and Peterborough offered £230k for him. I still can't get rid of Bell, Barton, Dunn, Malaga, McDonald or Elliott - although the latter is moving on a free at the end of this season.

With the small sum of cash I managed to get in, I have improved the squad a little with the following deals:

Joel Perovuo (HJK) £40k. A modest investment in a fairly well-rounded midfielder from Finland. Not a star, but has made a few starts and so far is doing well enough.

Corrin Brooks-Meade (Alki) free. A young back-up 'keeper. He is English and would allow me to take cash if I can sell either Murphy or Dunn.

Teddy Mezague (Montpellier HSC) £110k. I was unable to ignore this quality CB from France. A rock when I had him at Gillingham, Bournemouth and PSG. Highly recommended.

Marin Leovac (FK Austria Wien) £80k. This Croatian was available at a cut-price fee and was possibly not needed but he strengthens my LB position.

Redah Atassi (FUS Rabat) £160k. I paid more than I wanted for this defender, but Coventry have history with players from Morocco. Good when I monitored him on other saves.

Hermanni Vuorinen (Honka) free. Another Finn, this striker will be used as back-up, and could already be sold for over £200k if it doesn't work out.

I also finally secured the services of Cauley Woodrow (Fulham) on a 3-month loan, which I am pleased about. He is a good prospect and I know can be very capable at this level. We also have James Bailey (Derby) who starts the game with us, whilst I added Shaun Cummings (Reading) and Frederic Mendy (Estoril) earlier in the season.

Young Australian 'keeper Matthew Ryan (Central Coast Mariners) and Slovakian striker Antonin Fantis (Banik Ostrava) are both joining in the summer for free, although we are paying £50k compensation for the latter. Hopefully that means I won't need to rely on loanees next season unless they are key players. I'm trying to convince a few major targets to join us as I want to make our central midfield and wide positions better for next season, and a top quality finisher will see me very content. The inherted squad is full of promising young HG talent, and I think this club can flourish again if I manage it well.

I'm pleased that Madden is still doing well, and formed a good partnership with Obika at Yeovil. Consolidation is important when you take a small club up, so that's a great start you made. I guess you will have plenty of those backs-to-the-wall situations and a solid 'keeper is invaluable so hopefully Stech can keep it up, and avoid injury! I'd strongly suggest getting in Teddy Mezague if you can afford the small outlay. What other positions are you looking at, and what funds do you have?

Apologies for the long essay...

[Plainlayzee]

I guess you could say the ASPIRE project is similar to the GHA or RTD project. It may not help you at Yeovil, but is worth keeping an eye on in the future, particularly if work permits are not an issue.

I've progressed to January 2013 at Coventry, and just beat Wigan in the 3rd round of the FA Cup (but next round is away at Swansea). I don't make any effort in Cups but every penny matters here. In the league we are 3rd, but the top 10 is quite bunched. I see Tranmere have recovered slightly and could make a late burst for the play offs.

I terminated the loan of McManaman and Andy Drury went back to Ipswich after a successful 3-month loan. Unfortunately he was swiftly sold on to Wolves. I did cash in some sale clauses for Bigirimana and Jutkiewicz, which was useful, and I also sold fans favourite McSheffrey. He wasn't a key player, his contract was going to be up, and Peterborough offered £230k for him. I still can't get rid of Bell, Barton, Dunn, Malaga, McDonald or Elliott - although the latter is moving on a free at the end of this season.

With the small sum of cash I managed to get in, I have improved the squad a little with the following deals:

Joel Perovuo (HJK) £40k. A modest investment in a fairly well-rounded midfielder from Finland. Not a star, but has made a few starts and so far is doing well enough.

Corrin Brooks-Meade (Alki) free. A young back-up 'keeper. He is English and would allow me to take cash if I can sell either Murphy or Dunn.

Teddy Mezague (Montpellier HSC) £110k. I was unable to ignore this quality CB from France. A rock when I had him at Gillingham, Bournemouth and PSG. Highly recommended.

Marin Leovac (FK Austria Wien) £80k. This Croatian was available at a cut-price fee and was possibly not needed but he strengthens my LB position.

Redah Atassi (FUS Rabat) £160k. I paid more than I wanted for this defender, but Coventry have history with players from Morocco. Good when I monitored him on other saves.

Hermanni Vuorinen (Honka) free. Another Finn, this striker will be used as back-up, and could already be sold for over £200k if it doesn't work out.

I also finally secured the services of Cauley Woodrow (Fulham) on a 3-month loan, which I am pleased about. He is a good prospect and I know can be very capable at this level. We also have James Bailey (Derby) who starts the game with us, whilst I added Shaun Cummings (Reading) and Frederic Mendy (Estoril) earlier in the season.

Young Australian 'keeper Matthew Ryan (Central Coast Mariners) and Slovakian striker Antonin Fantis (Banik Ostrava) are both joining in the summer for free, although we are paying £50k compensation for the latter. Hopefully that means I won't need to rely on loanees next season unless they are key players. I'm trying to convince a few major targets to join us as I want to make our central midfield and wide positions better for next season, and a top quality finisher will see me very content. The inherted squad is full of promising young HG talent, and I think this club can flourish again if I manage it well.

I'm pleased that Madden is still doing well, and formed a good partnership with Obika at Yeovil. Consolidation is important when you take a small club up, so that's a great start you made. I guess you will have plenty of those backs-to-the-wall situations and a solid 'keeper is invaluable so hopefully Stech can keep it up, and avoid injury! I'd strongly suggest getting in Teddy Mezague if you can afford the small outlay. What other positions are you looking at, and what funds do you have?

Apologies for the long essay...

You really do know how to pull some quality signings out of the hat don't you? I'm inspired I will be honest.

Personally I like to think that I have an extremely good knowledge of the English/Scottish markets however my European knowledge is limited, both IRL and in the game. The signings of Teddy Mezague and Brooks-Meade both interest me greatly.

Ideally I need to find myself a CB (cover) and a bit of flair for the midfield. Although I am not desperate for either, I do think they could help us maintain our decent start. I have been looking at possibly signing Danny Seabourne who is an ex-Southampton player. He initially wanted 12k wages at the start of the summer and was wanted by Everton, however, he got injured and his move collapsed now leaving him a free agent and only wanting 3k p/w. His stats aren't great by any stretch of the imagination but he seems to produce top performances and is only young. Plus with a lot of your signing's listed above, he will have a good sell on fee if things don't work out.

Midfield wise I was looking at signing Bobby Grant from Rochdale. He set up 14 goals and scored 12 last season in getting them promoted from League 2. He has started this season with 2 goals in 4 games and 2 assists. The obvious downside to this is that I don't have the funds to pay them the 400k they want. An option may be to bring in a youngster/free signing on low wages to get me through to January and then review the situation again. However, with a squad of only 19 players (2 of which are yth) I don't want to get a few injuries and be left short of players.

With regards to Stech yes he is a quality goalkeeper no doubt about that, however he approach me at the end of last season demanding to play at a higher level. His requested crossed over with our promotion so it seems he is now demanding to play in the Premier League. Clearly I cannot get him that at the moment (or it is very unlikely I will anyway!). With only a year left on his deal it is likely I will either have to pay him big bucks to to make him stay or sell him in January whilst I can still demand a fee. Failing which he will walk out at the end of the season for nothing. With him being one of the clubs most valuable players I certainly do not want that to happen.

How did the fans react to you selling McSheffrey? I sold Gavin Williams who was a fans favourite and they weren't happy at all!

Best of luck with the Swansea game, if you can get a result there and bring them back home you never know what will happen. Either way it is a pay day for you and will get some money in the bank.

[jac4121993]

Reckon I might try again at League 1. Colchester are my team so may as well give them another go.

Bit strange to see someone else playing as Colchester, also strange to see them sign Scott Vernon! We let him go on a free transfer in 2010 because, quite frankly, he wasn't that great a goalscorer. He scored a brace against Ipswich in a derby match in our final season in the Championship though, so he's fairly popular.

How well have some of the younger players turned out for you Gunner 101? I'm talking the likes of Alex Gilbey and Drey Wright.

[Plainlayzee]

Reckon I might try again at League 1. Colchester are my team so may as well give them another go.

Bit strange to see someone else playing as Colchester, also strange to see them sign Scott Vernon! We let him go on a free transfer in 2010 because, quite frankly, he wasn't that great a goalscorer. He scored a brace against Ipswich in a derby match in our final season in the Championship though, so he's fairly popular.

How well have some of the younger players turned out for you Gunner 101? I'm talking the likes of Alex Gilbey and Drey Wright.

Give it a shot mate, I find League 1 and the Championship are brilliant leagues to start in. Some of the signings are really good if you have a proper look round the markets. I have no doubt that Gunner will offer you a few tips as well

[Jogo Bonito]

Thanks mate, I appreciate your comments. I don't use scouts or reports to be honest as I like doing the work myself. Sometimes I might use the transfer search to shortlist if I want specific attributes or nationality, but usually it's only to check the 'available for loan' options. You could say I put quite a bit of effort in to searching out my own players. I try to make my choices from those that I know of IRL rather than those that come up in the game or on the forums. I find that so much more enjoyable.

In fact, each time I start a new game I try to avoid the same old players, and give myself 'conditions' to make it different. When I was at Crewe I sought out some of the best non-league players, when I was at Rangers I tried to buy unknown Scots, and when I was at Hayes I got some really handy freebies and loans from clubs of similar stature to them. At PSG, I signed only a handful of players (all French), when I was at Westerlo I just went for young Belgians and a few obscure guys who could beat the work permit constraints that we have in UK, when I was at Copenhagen it was mainly Danes and a couple of others from the region, at Dinamo it was mainly HG talents with a few from neighbouring nations. I think it's why I usually only do a few seasons, I want to try out different players at different clubs.

Another thing I enjoy at this time of the year, is looking at those players impressing in the actual season just gone. Those emerging players you can catch before they get their upgrades and go out of reach (e.g. Harriott at Charlton, Madden at Yeovil) or interesting summer signings (e.g. Balde at Celtic, Taylor at Sheff Utd). Of course this doesn't always work, and you can get frustrated like I did with McManaman in this game!!

I tried to avoid Teddy Mezague this time - but he really is worth it. On the original database, he starred as I took Gillingham up to the PL in 5 seasons, then on the current update he did it again when I got Bournemouth promoted. I also signed him at PSG in my all-French game, his ratings were immense even at that level. So, this time I made an exception to my rule of 'old favourites' and went back for him. Talking of Seaborne, I had him on loan at Bournemouth and (alongside Mezague of course) he was a very solid performer. Brooks-Meade I had looked at in other saves, but have never tried. This seemed the right time to try him out.

I like how you identified Bobby Grant, that's a great season he had but a big fee and you can probably get better value. As an aside, I heard from unreliable sources that he has a pretty high opinion of himself, and I personally try and avoid players that might be a bit like that, or those with criminal records. I wouldn't want them IRL so wouldn't want them in FM. I know that probably sounds strange and/or harsh but I have very clear ideas and philosophies.

There are usually some good GK available after season 1, free or available on loan. If money is tight, I agree you may be better off selling Stech before your asset is lost for nothing. I'd suggest getting the replacement in first though because there is nothing worse than scratching around for a second-rate 'keeper to hold your team together. On the other hand, it depends how much he is worth now? If the fee isn't more than £500k at least, I would probably hold off selling. Are PL clubs really going to want him? Avoiding the drop might be enough to convince him to stay.

The creative flair in midfield is something our smaller clubs struggle with. Young British players are expensive, replicating the state of our game, so often it seems better to look abroad. I try the medium/minor European leagues, sometimes USA, and have adecent bit of knowledge around Africa and the Middle East (work permits can be a problem, which funnily enough have been an issue for me myself in both of these locations). A few I am currently monitoring or bidding on are Dominik Starkl, Opa Nguette, Lenny Nangis, Bob Schepers, Steven Zuber, Yeom Ki-Hoon, Dejan Mezga, Mihail Aleksandrov, Paul-Georges Ntep, Dejan Glavica, Henri Belle, Omar Abdulrahman, Mateas Delic, Michal Zyro, Goran Smiljanic, Mohamed Salah, Dejan Meleg, Iain Ramsay, Sorel Chemin. These are all flank players, which is where I am looking for my flair. Most of those have pace and other winger attributes that I value - some would be available for purchase, others may agree a loan if you get lucky. I'd suggest, with your modest kitty, that you check the Reserve sides of top tier clubs in places like France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Austria and the main squads of clubs in Central European nations.

I find my demands on central flair players are very high. I expect much more than creativity from them in those parts of the pitch. I am tracking a few players but I always take my time on these choices. If you're looking for players of that ilk, I could probably offer a few untried suggestions. As for strikers, I wish I could have a squad with 100 of them. I love signing a young striker who can blossom or a little-known gem, but as I am playing only one up front with Coventry, I am limiting myself here a little (have one signed for next season, and one or two more are under consideration). For a random freebie, check if you see Devon Hodges in your game. He is playing in Thailand but is a Jamaican international striker and will always be a free purchase because of the club's status. If he gets a work permit, he will serve you well. Other strikers might match him, but for squad depth this one won't cost a penny and wages will be £2k-£3k p/w maximum.

Which brings me, finally, on to your question about McSheffrey. I did play him and always like to have players and staff with actual club connections. I usually do a 'favoured personnel search' of players and staff when I take over, to check the club favourites and see who may be realistic to bring in. I also use my memory to remember ex-players of the club, and see if they're worth bidding for. I love to bring thorough the club's own youngsters and one policy that I ritually observe at any club, is not to keep players over 30. If their contracts are up, I sell or release. If I sign a player, usually 27 is maximum age, and whoever I bring in, I set their contract to end by the time they hit 30. McSheffrey was at that stage, I would have kept him but he wasn't anything extraordinary, and a fee was available. With a heavy heart and thanks for his service, I let him go and was actually surprised that the fans didn't make any critical comments yet. One day he may be coming back on my staff, if his future attributes cut the mustard.

Sorry, I really need to write less.

[Jogo Bonito]

Welcome to the thread jac and good luck taking over at your team. To see you two guys playing at Colchester will be great.

[jac4121993]

Going to try and follow the Colchester way as closely as I can. That means giving youth lots of opportunities, not spending big fees and trying to secure loanees from Premier League clubs. Thankfully, most of Colchester's experienced players make for fantastic tutors and that makes bringing through youth players a lot easier.

Colchester only have one usable goalkeeper (Mark Cousins) to start with - they have a couple of youth keepers but they're all useless. Going to have to sign a goalkeeper. Cousins has a Resolute personality so I'll be keeping him around for a while for tutoring.

Have no natural leftback in the squad, I'm going to have sign someone there. I usually get in Aziz Deen-Conteh on loan from Chelsea, but I'm going to try and sign Ben Gordon on a free transfer as well.

I could also do with signing another left winger. Only have one in the squad and he's pretty average, not to mention the fact that he unhelpfully has the Cuts Inside PPM. Any recommendations here? Would have to be a free transfer or a loan.

Stocked upfront, but lack an out and out goalscorer. I do have the Beast that is Jabo Ibehre though.

[Jogo Bonito]

Excellent philosophy, I like the sound of that.

If you want a first choice 'keeper, you can loan Mikkel Andersen (Reading) for a season or possibly Sam Johnstone/Mark Bunn/Jed Steer/Lee Camp?

I can't really think of any better British free/loan LB that might be available at the start. Jack Robinson? Danny Potts? Darren Holden? Blair Adams? Barry Douglas? Julian Bennett was mentioned above.

Left wing/midfield, you could bring back Mark Yeates on loan? It might be good if you're a fan of his. Maybe Harriott is available on loan from Charlton? Kal Naismith? Jordan Obita? Kenneth McEvoy? Conor McAleny?

Goalscorers for free is tough too. Perhaps you can loan Woodrow from Fulham or Marcel Essombe from Chateauroux if you fancy a foreign striker? Obika? Bradley Wright-Phillips? Cody McDonald? Nick Blackman? Simon Church? Benik Afobe?

[Plainlayzee]

Thanks mate, I appreciate your comments. I don't use scouts or reports to be honest as I like doing the work myself. Sometimes I might use the transfer search to shortlist if I want specific attributes or nationality, but usually it's only to check the 'available for loan' options. You could say I put quite a bit of effort in to searching out my own players. I try to make my choices from those that I know of IRL rather than those that come up in the game or on the forums. I find that so much more enjoyable.

In fact, each time I start a new game I try to avoid the same old players, and give myself 'conditions' to make it different. When I was at Crewe I sought out some of the best non-league players, when I was at Rangers I tried to buy unknown Scots, and when I was at Hayes I got some really handy freebies and loans from clubs of similar stature to them. At PSG, I signed only a handful of players (all French), when I was at Westerlo I just went for young Belgians and a few obscure guys who could beat the work permit constraints that we have in UK, when I was at Copenhagen it was mainly Danes and a couple of others from the region, at Dinamo it was mainly HG talents with a few from neighbouring nations. I think it's why I usually only do a few seasons, I want to try out different players at different clubs.

Another thing I enjoy at this time of the year, is looking at those players impressing in the actual season just gone. Those emerging players you can catch before they get their upgrades and go out of reach (e.g. Harriott at Charlton, Madden at Yeovil) or interesting summer signings (e.g. Balde at Celtic, Taylor at Sheff Utd). Of course this doesn't always work, and you can get frustrated like I did with McManaman in this game!!

I tried to avoid Teddy Mezague this time - but he really is worth it. On the original database, he starred as I took Gillingham up to the PL in 5 seasons, then on the current update he did it again when I got Bournemouth promoted. I also signed him at PSG in my all-French game, his ratings were immense even at that level. So, this time I made an exception to my rule of 'old favourites' and went back for him. Talking of Seaborne, I had him on loan at Bournemouth and (alongside Mezague of course) he was a very solid performer. Brooks-Meade I had looked at in other saves, but have never tried. This seemed the right time to try him out.

I like how you identified Bobby Grant, that's a great season he had but a big fee and you can probably get better value. As an aside, I heard from unreliable sources that he has a pretty high opinion of himself, and I personally try and avoid players that might be a bit like that, or those with criminal records. I wouldn't want them IRL so wouldn't want them in FM. I know that probably sounds strange and/or harsh but I have very clear ideas and philosophies.

There are usually some good GK available after season 1, free or available on loan. If money is tight, I agree you may be better off selling Stech before your asset is lost for nothing. I'd suggest getting the replacement in first though because there is nothing worse than scratching around for a second-rate 'keeper to hold your team together. On the other hand, it depends how much he is worth now? If the fee isn't more than £500k at least, I would probably hold off selling. Are PL clubs really going to want him? Avoiding the drop might be enough to convince him to stay.

The creative flair in midfield is something our smaller clubs struggle with. Young British players are expensive, replicating the state of our game, so often it seems better to look abroad. I try the medium/minor European leagues, sometimes USA, and have adecent bit of knowledge around Africa and the Middle East (work permits can be a problem, which funnily enough have been an issue for me myself in both of these locations). A few I am currently monitoring or bidding on are Dominik Starkl, Opa Nguette, Lenny Nangis, Bob Schepers, Steven Zuber, Yeom Ki-Hoon, Dejan Mezga, Mihail Aleksandrov, Paul-Georges Ntep, Dejan Glavica, Henri Belle, Omar Abdulrahman, Mateas Delic, Michal Zyro, Goran Smiljanic, Mohamed Salah, Dejan Meleg, Iain Ramsay, Sorel Chemin. These are all flank players, which is where I am looking for my flair. Most of those have pace and other winger attributes that I value - some would be available for purchase, others may agree a loan if you get lucky. I'd suggest, with your modest kitty, that you check the Reserve sides of top tier clubs in places like France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Austria and the main squads of clubs in Central European nations.

I find my demands on central flair players are very high. I expect much more than creativity from them in those parts of the pitch. I am tracking a few players but I always take my time on these choices. If you're looking for players of that ilk, I could probably offer a few untried suggestions. As for strikers, I wish I could have a squad with 100 of them. I love signing a young striker who can blossom or a little-known gem, but as I am playing only one up front with Coventry, I am limiting myself here a little (have one signed for next season, and one or two more are under consideration). For a random freebie, check if you see Devon Hodges in your game. He is playing in Thailand but is a Jamaican international striker and will always be a free purchase because of the club's status. If he gets a work permit, he will serve you well. Other strikers might match him, but for squad depth this one won't cost a penny and wages will be £2k-£3k p/w maximum.

Which brings me, finally, on to your question about McSheffrey. I did play him and always like to have players and staff with actual club connections. I usually do a 'favoured personnel search' of players and staff when I take over, to check the club favourites and see who may be realistic to bring in. I also use my memory to remember ex-players of the club, and see if they're worth bidding for. I love to bring thorough the club's own youngsters and one policy that I ritually observe at any club, is not to keep players over 30. If their contracts are up, I sell or release. If I sign a player, usually 27 is maximum age, and whoever I bring in, I set their contract to end by the time they hit 30. McSheffrey was at that stage, I would have kept him but he wasn't anything extraordinary, and a fee was available. With a heavy heart and thanks for his service, I let him go and was actually surprised that the fans didn't make any critical comments yet. One day he may be coming back on my staff, if his future attributes cut the mustard.

Sorry, I really need to write less.

Don't limit your writing, I am really enjoying your updates and your philosophies about how you play the game.

First I agree to an extent regarding signings. I do my best to avoid the search filters as I find this is slightly 'cheating'. I prefer to start in the premier league and work my way down all 20 teams reviewing their squads and seeing who is available, then the same with the championship and so on. This way I find you can pick out some really good youth from a higher level who may be available for loan/ a cheap transfer.

I will however be going home and putting the name of Teddy Mazague into my search bar tonight. I am not 100% sure if he will show up as I do not have a great amount of leagues loaded, but if he does he is sure to be a player I consider, presuming he hasn't already moved clubs.

With regards to Bobby Grant his 'attitude' may be a good think. I think some of my players are a bit too nice and I need a bit of steel within the squad. By steel I don't mean I need Joey Barton turning up with a crow bar, I need a few players who might be willing to speak out and rattle the others into shape. The overall squad mentality is 'Professional' and I only have 3 players who are listed as being determined. I think maybe 1 or 2 more may help the squad to believe they can actually achieve something. On the subject of people with attitudes and jail terms, I did find that Troy Deeney was arguably my most prolific striker on this years game. He scored well in excess of 30 goals in 6 months of managing Watford on an old save and he is someone I would happily bring into the squad. Him being perhaps the only exception, someone like Marlon King wouldn't be considered due to the nature of his previous offences IRL.

I was tempted to offer Stech out there and see what sort of interest I get at the end of the transfer window, maybe be able to nick a few extra pounds from a few desperate teams, however, due to the good start we have made and his impressive form, I do not want to be upsetting the defence any more. I think long term someone like Alex Smithies from Huddersfield will be considered. My scouts have a great deal of time for him and he is second choice at Huddersfield at the moment after a fall out with their manager. If I can sell Stech and bring him for a similar fee then I certainly don't think I would be any worse off.

I've found the amount of quality players who are either t/listed or who's contracts are due to expire is quite frankly frightening. There are some real bargains to be had if I can get to January/the end of the season and be in a financially better position. Unfortunately though there seems to be a real lack of quality flair players available who fit my remit. I agree the English players often do not often the flair required and you do usually have to look abroad to find someone who can offer something at a reasonable price. I did have Kristian Adjoran on loan from Liverpool last season who offered me a trick or two, however he is currently hovering around their first team squad and therefore no longer available. I may have a look around the lower European leagues and see who I can find however due to the clubs reputation most players are unwilling to sign for me from the foreign leagues.

Send me an update when you have progressed your save a bit.

Cheers

[Gunner 101]

What do you think your chances of going up next year are? Could you push for the play offs? Who are you going to sign?

I'm really not sure! Depends on who we can bring in really, and that's dependant on the budget we get. We was up to third in December last season before falling off so hopefully we can start well and sustain that for a little bit longer this time around.

Reckon I might try again at League 1. Colchester are my team so may as well give them another go.

Bit strange to see someone else playing as Colchester, also strange to see them sign Scott Vernon! We let him go on a free transfer in 2010 because, quite frankly, he wasn't that great a goalscorer. He scored a brace against Ipswich in a derby match in our final season in the Championship though, so he's fairly popular.

How well have some of the younger players turned out for you Gunner 101? I'm talking the likes of Alex Gilbey and Drey Wright.

Vernon actually managed to score 20 goals so hasn't done too bad, although he's declined quite rapidly over the second part of the season. Alex Gilbey is now my first choice centre mid and played with England Under 19's a couple of times, although he's not been called up to the under 21's at all. Wright, not so good. Still remains part of my team but maybe not for too much longer.

I actually went all first season pretty much without a sub goalkeeper too (signed Luke Daniels for 3 months when Cousins was injured). Cousins performs well enough. I signed Julian Bennett on loan and then signed him for £50k to fill my left back spot, he's still with me now but second choice behind Ben Gordon. Look at Lloyd Isgrove for your left wing role, he did well for me on loan in the second season. Billy Clifford is also key first season and will score a few. I wouldn't worry about strikers too much, Ibehre got me 27 in League One, although I did sign Lauri Dalle Valle on loan from Fulham who hit 14. I've signed him since and he's still part of mine and Finland's squad now.

Good luck!

[Jogo Bonito]

I don't have any experience of Grant in game, but maybe he would do the job on and off the park if that's what you might need. The comment on Barton made me chuckle, but I really dislike players like him. Lee Hughes is another....shudder. Deeney and King, yeah, similar types I guess.

I like your methods of finding players, doing it that way can make you feel more 'proud' of your successes and hopefully it will continue to pay dividends. Feel free to look at any of the above names, or ignore if it takes some of the fun away. Mezague should be in the Montpellier reserve squad if you fancy it though.

Smithies I used to have in previous FM versions, when I was manager at Huddersfield in League 1. He was excellent then and hopefully that is still the case. Whatever you decide, good luck there. Let me know who you get in for your flair, and how they perform.

I think I write more than I play! As I am still in the January 2013 window, it seems to be even slower but hopefully I can add something 'special'. I'm fully stocked up on GK's and all types of defenders, so now I can concentrate on the fun part - the attacking areas of the side. And of course, the debut of Mezague will come up soon (he is recovering from a hamstring injury sustained before I signed him).

Good luck to you guys at Colchester. I went to Layer Road a few times, and of course have respect for any team that took Watto and Parky back in the day. Didac and Prejuce look like good signings Gunner.

[jac4121993]

It seems I meant Ben Parker not Ben Gordon for leftback. Anyways, I reckon I'll go for Bennett on loan as he'll probably be a cheaper option if I intend to keep Clifford (5K a week!). Not too sure how to play Ibehre. I'm guessing Complete Forward Support would work pretty well for him with two Wingers and Clifford playing behind him.

[Gunner 101]

I play either a 4-5-1 or a 4-1-2-1-2. So if Ibehre plays he normally plays as a target man.

Also I did try to sign Parker before Bennett and he chose Carlisle instead.

Just also been offered the chance for a pre-season training camp! So me and the boys are off to The Algarve for a spot of sunshine in July!

The budgets are also in for the new season! Wage budget available is £97k a week with a transfer budget of £1million available.

I look set to lose all my loanees (Cisak, Fernandez and Nakoulma) but none impressed enough for me to want to try and make a permanent move for. Im also going to let my goalkeeper, Gomez leave as his contract is up and at 34, he's on the decline.

So losing two goalkeepers in the summer isn't ideal and that will be the main priority. Will be looking at hopefully signing 4 or 5 players during the close season to improve the side.

[Gunner 101]

Okay, so usually I normally wait to make any transfers till the start of July, I normally reserve the time between the seasons end and end of June to either sign loanees, or scout out targets for all positions. I tend to like to bide my time. However, this season is a little different, with me making not only one, but two signings before the start of July. I decided that, with none of the loanees impressing me too much, that I wouldn't try and keep any and due to me losing two goalkeepers, I decided I would replace them, both!

So, signing number one and my new number one;

Bobby Olejnik Signed from West Ham United for £325k. He's a big, tall goalkeeper at 6'2". Played previously in this division with Peterborough I will feel he's a decent signing and will do well for me this season.

Tonci Secer (Regen) Okay, so this is someone who I have high hopes for. Signed for £400k from Hajduk Split. He's 19 years old but has already represented Croatia at under 21 level 6 times! He's also played first team football for Hajduk and so the potential is there. A player I hope will develop well and be number one at the club for years to come.

[Plainlayzee]

Morning guys,

Thought I would post a quick update (this is going to be long winded)....

Where do I start...

Recent results have been a bit of a mixed bag, after beating Watford 1-0 at home and Leicester 4-2 away from home (Paddy Madden got a hat-trick) we then drew 0-0 with Crystal Palace at home who were bottom at the time, lost 1-0 away to Wigan despite them only having 10 men for most of the match and drew at home to Wolves 1-1 again they only had 10 men for a long period of the game. Clearly I was quite disappointed that we hadn't at least managed to get a few more points from these games. Nevertheless I have slightly switched my tactic and we won the next 2 games, first 1-0 away to Middlesbrough and then a 2-0 win at home to Sheffield Wednesday.

I suppose the positives to take from these results are that we aren't conceded anywhere near as many goals as we have been in the past. Following these results we now sit 3rd in the league table after 12 games, with 24 points. Peterborough lead the way on 25 points however the team in 9th does have 22, so clearly it is very tight at the moment.

Clearly I have now gone past the end of the August transfer window. After saying I was going to bring in some more flair I had a late change of heart. My biggest issue was that any central attacking player coming in would mean a change in formation or me having to drop either Ed Upson, Kevin Dawson or Stephen McGinn all of whom have been playing very well. McGinn was only a summer signing from Watford but he already looks like he can offer us something different in the middle. With this in mine I decent instead to add some pace to the wings and stumbled across Jerome Thomas. I initially thought he was extremely inconsistent and wouldn't want to drop to this level. However I was wrong, on one of this guesses anyway. He has signed on a free transfer for just £2800 p/w and low bonuses as well. Plus only a 1 year deal, so if things don't work out for either party he can go at the end of the season.

In his first game he got a rating of 7.9 and provided the assist for our goal. He is injured for 2 weeks at the moment though, probably due to the fact that he has hardly played a game for 2 years so is massively short of match fitness.

A few slight concerns, firstly Obika's goals and performances seem to of dried up. He now hasn't scored for 8 games. I have dropped him for the last two games though and the ever green James Hayter has scored 3 goals in 2 games which is pleasing. Iain Hume on the other hand is yet to score a goal, or for that matter put in a decent performance which is worrying. Unless he improves quickly he is likely to be leaving at the end of the season as I cannot afford to keep paying him £4000 per week when he is offering very little. All my other signings have settled well and are contributing. Especially Tommy Spurr and Sean McGuinty who have been brilliant at the back for us.

Off the field we have signed deal with Manchester United for them to be our parent club which will bring in around 100k per year. Plus hopefully I can steal some of their youth.

Next few games are Southampton at home, Leeds (bottom of the league!) away before Tranmere and Hull at home. I am hoping I can steal 4 points from the 3 games minimum.

[Plainlayzee]

I don't have any experience of Grant in game, but maybe he would do the job on and off the park if that's what you might need. The comment on Barton made me chuckle, but I really dislike players like him. Lee Hughes is another....shudder. Deeney and King, yeah, similar types I guess.

I like your methods of finding players, doing it that way can make you feel more 'proud' of your successes and hopefully it will continue to pay dividends. Feel free to look at any of the above names, or ignore if it takes some of the fun away. Mezague should be in the Montpellier reserve squad if you fancy it though.

Smithies I used to have in previous FM versions, when I was manager at Huddersfield in League 1. He was excellent then and hopefully that is still the case. Whatever you decide, good luck there. Let me know who you get in for your flair, and how they perform.

I think I write more than I play! As I am still in the January 2013 window, it seems to be even slower but hopefully I can add something 'special'. I'm fully stocked up on GK's and all types of defenders, so now I can concentrate on the fun part - the attacking areas of the side. And of course, the debut of Mezague will come up soon (he is recovering from a hamstring injury sustained before I signed him).

Good luck to you guys at Colchester. I went to Layer Road a few times, and of course have respect for any team that took Watto and Parky back in the day. Didac and Prejuce look like good signings Gunner.

I forgot to mention I did try and sign Mezague however he is currently listed as 'not available for loan' so therefore I cannot bring him in at this stage. I will continue to monitor him over the next few months though.

[Gunner 101]

Seems like things are going very well, good luck for sustaining this throughout the season!

[Plainlayzee]

Seems like things are going very well, good luck for sustaining this throughout the season!

I can't see it happening somehow - how is your game going?

[Jogo Bonito]

Good updates Mr. Layzee, you're doing well to keep your side up in contention. Doing that with a homegrown core is an achievement, and hopefully Thomas will continue as he has started. I'm surprised you couldn't get Mezague, but he is worth keeping an eye on.

Like you, I've stuck with my existing central midfield although I tried to get one or two in before bailing out when the fee and wage demands escalated beyond the level I thought was appropriate. I wasn't after much more than grafters in the middle, and will re-visit these targets again in the summer and see what the state of play is with them.

I tried hard to bring in certain flair players out wide, but they seemed more content to play for B teams in their own country rather than become key players for a promotion-chasing English team. Anyway, as it turns out I made no more signings in the January window but have secured three more recruits for the summer.

Next to join is Dan Holman (Braintree) to boost my striking options. He is prolific in non-league and had performed well for me at Crewe before, so a small outlay of £65k seemed worth it. Additionally there are a couple more Bosmans joining. Tomas Wagner (Viktoria Plzen) is a current Czech U21 international striker and should be a class act at this level, whilst Armiche (Valencia) is a rather sorry-looking winger who has just moved from the Mestalla (B team) to Greece in reality, but was in the Spaniards first team squad in the game. He appears to offer little apart from pace and flair but I felt he was worth a gamble on wages of £650 p/w and he may surprise me and become more than a back-up.

I've gone heavy on positional training and most of my HG youngsters are developing well. Hopefully next season I can start to bring more of them in to the squad, although in that respect, promotion may not be a good thing. We are sitting joint-top in March, but I don't feel under pressure to get up. The board may think otherwise but I know the Championship would be tough with no budget and I'm still in the squad-building stage so will accept wherever we end up in good spirit.

Before I forget, we were rather unlucky losers in FA Cup Round 4 as an 88th minute goal at Swansea saw them edge our makeshift side 1-0. However, in the blank week of Round 5, we arranged a home friendly against Aston Villa to earn a bit of extra cash, and defeated them 1-0 so the signs for the future are encouraging.

Again, a short update turned in to a novel, but I like this thread. I haven't posted any screenshots as I guess I'm copying you Mr. Layzee but if that would make the updates more enjoyable, I can force myself to make the effort of taking and uploading screenies.

[jac4121993]

Pre season finished. I decided to get rid of the preset friendlies and set up 6 against crappy non league sides. 21 scored, 1 conceded. Morale high, though we aren't as competent on my tactics as I'd have liked.

Transfer wise, the only out at the moment is Andy Bond to Mansfield for 9K plus a 30% profit clause (best offer I got for him, and I just wanted to free up the wages.

For transfers in, I got Julian Bennett from Sheffield Wednesday and Daniel Johnson from Aston Villa in on loan to sort out the problematic left flank of my team. I then also brought in Ben Sayer and Robert Maloney on free transfers, they're just a couple of kids to develop.

Got myself a home tie against AFC Wimbledon in the League Cup to open the season, so we should get ourselves into the 2nd round. Doncaster at home to open the league season, which I'll take a point from. Then I have 4 games against sides predicted to finish around or below me, 3 of which are away. Could do with winning all 4 games to get myself off to a good start to the season.